1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cathode-ray tube digital display and control system such as may be found, for example, in Class 340, sub-Class 324 of the classification system of the United States Patent Office. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a cathode-ray tube digital system using a plurality of cathode-ray tubes having display faces spatially associated with each other and respective displays produced in a digital computer oriented system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the automatic control of an industrial process, e.g., such as those found in processes involving chemicals, Petroleum, metals, paper, food, municipal water and sewage systems, it is common practice to provide a large display panel on which are mounted a great number of individual process control instruments and related readout devices all of which are arranged for manipulation and monitoring by a human operator in order to achieve control over the process. As industrial plants have become larger and control systems have been highly integrated and concentrated into central control rooms, the amount of information necessary to be displayed for adequate control over the process has increased tremendously. This has also increased the amount of data concerning the process which the human operator is required to quickly assimilate and the effect the appropriate and necessary control measures.
With the advent of digital computer control of industrial processes and new economical methods of compact display such as the cathode-ray tube, it has become technically and economically feasible to make a radical departure from the traditional large panel of instruments and display devices to a console or desk top design of a display and control center. The result is a better human engineered display and control interface that is more compatible with the human factors that inherently constrain the operator's physical actions and mental processes. The use of such an interface provides a more compact and useful arrangement of process data and correlated control functions which arrangement can not readily be achieved through the conventional and current practice of placing numerous instruments either side by side or in various arrangements on a large central control panel. Current known achievements in the area of such a central display and control configuration may be found in the December, 1965 issue of "Control Engineering" on pages 77 to 83; the January, 1971 issue of "Instrumentation Technology" on pages 58 to 62; the March, 1972 issue of "Canadian Controls and Instrumentation" on pages 22 to 25; in the Dec. 14, 1972 issue of "Machine Design" on pages 124 to 129. In attempting to effect such a consolidation of information display for the purpose of providing the most effective process/operator interface, such prior art display and control systems have, however, failed to provide the most efficient and compact display system. In some cases, more information than the operator can grasp has been provided, and, in other cases, necessary and desirable information has been omitted.
In accordance with the present invention, it has been determined that the following display and control functions must be provided for the operator for effecting an efficient and compact display:
1. A broad overview of a total operating process is needed to enable the monitoring by the operator of hundreds of data points in an extremely short period of time to determine whether or not the process is operating properly. PA1 2. In such an overview the operator is directed to areas of the process which may require further and detailed examination. This further examination necessitates a second display of information identified as a detail view of the system for providing the operator with specific detailed information about a small portion of the total operating process. This detailed information ideally should be presented concurrently in combination with the overview picture as in independent and parallel display. PA1 3. An alarm alert, display or annunciator, is needed to direct the attention of the operator to process conditions which have deviated beyond the range considered to be representative of satisfactory operation and which might involve situations caused by catastrophic failures within the process. This alarm display also should be a parallel and independent display correlated to the aforesaid overview and detailed display.